Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rail skate of the type which is positioned on a rail to engaged by the wheel of a railcar thereby causing the railcar wheel to cease rotation and causing the rail skate to slide along the rail with the railcar wheel supported thereon thereby retarding movement of the railcar and ultimately stopping the same. Such a rail skate is commonly placed on a single rail, but a rail skate may be placed on both rails in side-by-side relation for additional stopping power if desired.
Rail skates have been known for many years. Such rail skates commonly include a toe or entry portion designed so that a rail wheel will ride up on the toe and roll along the toe a short predetermined distance until it engages an upwardly inclined ramp which prevents further movement of the railcar wheel relative to the rail skate. Thereafter, the forward movement of the railcar will cause the rail skate to slide along the top of the rail. Due to substantial friction between the rail skate and the top of the rail, the forward motion of the railcar will be retarded, and ultimately the railcar will be stopped.
A major problem with known rail skates has been the bending or curling up of the toe portion of the rail skate due to heating of the underside thereof caused by the friction between the rail skate and the rail as the rail skate slides along the rail under the substantial weight of the rail car applied to the wheel. The resultant heating of the underside of the toe portion of the rail skate causes that underside to expand, and as a result the toe portion of the rail skate has a tendency to curl up. If significant upward curling of the toe portion occurs, the rail skate can be rendered useless because a rail wheel will not thereafter be able to properly ride up onto the top of the toe portion.
Known rail skates generally have toe portions with a flat underside which is positioned on the top of the rail. The top of the rail itself may also be flat, although most new rails have a slight radius. In any event, such known rail skates commonly suffer from the above-mentioned disadvantage of upward bending or curling in the toe portion due to heat caused by friction as the rail skate slides along the rail. Heretofore, known rail skates have been made substantially heavier in an attempt to reduce the above curling effect.
Certain known rail skates which are made by casting may have a slight radius on the underside of the toe portion due to conventional draft angles used in the casting process. However, such a slight radius which occurs as a result of known casting techniques does not significantly reduce the tendency of the toe section to curl up as described above.
The main object of the present invention is to provide a rail skate which substantially eliminates the tendency of the toe portion of the skate to curl up due to heat caused by friction.
Another object is to achieve the above-mentioned objective without the need to provide an unusually heavy rail skate.
A further more specific object is to provide a rail skate having a toe portion formed with a linear or longitudinal break to achieve a substantially V-shaped cross-section so as to distribute the heat to the two sides of the underside of the toe portions and, at the same time, increase the resistance of the toe portion to upward curling or bending.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.